


A Mother's Love

by Echo (Lyrecho)



Category: Servamp (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Magic, Mahiru's Mother Lives, Pre canon divergence, Something Is Up With The Shirota Clan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-23 22:50:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12518360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Echo
Summary: Shizuka Shirota doesn't die when she was meant to. And the accident meant to take her life - wasn't quite an accident.Or, Mahiru's mother lives to raise him, and from this, everything changes...even as it stays the same.|Tumblr||Twitter|





	A Mother's Love

The call comes through just before midnight.

The witching hour, Toru muses, and grins silently to himself as he reaches across the couch to pick up his phone. He can't imagine who would be calling him at such an hour - especially since he's actually, for once, _in_ Japan, where most of his family (the only people he knows who don't pay enough attention to timezones and common courtesy) reside - but whoever they are, they're lucky that they caught him running through an all-nighter. Usually, he'd be asleep by now, long dead to the world.

The caller ID, though, has his smile melting off of his face. He has no idea where, exactly, the person on the other phone is calling from _geographically_ \- but he can get a faint idea of what kind of call this is from the 'Hospital' tacked onto the end of the flashing text on his phone.

He's thumbing at the 'answer call' button before he can even consider otherwise, and pressing the phone to his face hard enough that it hurts.

"Hello?" He says, and the voice on the other end that replies is young, and even - trying to be nondescript and soothing.

"Toru Shirota?" They ask, and continue on once he confirms, "we have you down as next of kin for a Shizuka Shirota?"

Ice begins building up in his veins, and Toru is only vaguely aware of his body moving stiffly - swinging legs down from where they'd been stretched along the lounge to have them resting on the floor; just making it all that much easier for him to get up and _move_ once the phone call was over.

"Uh, yeah," he says. "My sister - is she okay?"

"Shizuka-san is in surgery as we speak," they say. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure of her current status - but right now, our biggest concern is her son."

"Mahiru," Toru breathes, and on the other end of the line an affirmation is hummed.

"He's okay," they reassure him. "But Shizuka-san is going to be in surgery for a while, and even once she's out of the operating room, she's not going to be in position to be looking after her son, not for a while. There are families nearby we can place him with for a short while who sign up for this sort of volunteer work if you're not available, Shirota-san - it says in your file that you're frequently out of the country - but honestly, it would be best for Mahiru-kun if we could place him with someone he knows, or a family member."

"It's fine," Toru says, already standing and reaching for his jacket, slung over the back of his couch. "I'm in Japan right now; tell me where this hospital is and I'll be there in a heartbeat."

-x-

People like to say that cities never sleep, but Toru has learnt over the years that that's far from true. Sometime around midnight, the streets empty of people, and all that's left is the still quiet of a place that should be full of life but isn't. There are always the nightowls, of course, both dangerous and not - but Toru doesn't see so much as a whisper of another person as he runs through the streets, cursing his lack of a car. Since he moved around so much he had never found a use in owning one, and while he would usually hire one straight away on his arrival in any given place, his planned trip back home to Japan had been a short one, so short he hadn't seen any point in it, planning to rely solely on making use of the many subway lines scattered across the city.

He was regretting that now.

The hospital Shizuka had been taken to had been the one closest to where the car had run her down - and was also, luckily, fairly close to the small apartment complex Toru had been staying at, which left a bad taste in the back of his mouth. Out so late, and with Mahiru in tow? Though he had no idea how his sister had discovered his address, or even that he was back in the country, he knew that there was only one reason for her to be so near: she had been coming to see him.

He didn't have time to wonder on that, though - not when the hospital was looming in front of him now, a beacon of white sterility in the otherwise dead night. Stepping through the doors that led to the reception was like stepping through the veil into another world. If the quiet of the night outside was dead, then the quiet of the hospital was practically _rotting_. The atmosphere is heavy, opressive, and Toru is reminded of just why, exactly, he'd always hated going for check-ups.

He steps up to the reception desk, where the woman sitting there looks up from her computer with a smile that's obviously as automatic as the doors he'd just walked through, but it doesn't seem any less real for it. "Can I help you?" she asks.

"I'm Toru Shirota," he says, and recognition flashes across her face. "I got a call a little while ago about my sister and nephew?"

"Ah, yes," she nods, and looks away from him for a second to let her gaze flick over her screen. "Shizuka-san is still in surgery, but it seems to be going routinely so far," she says. "Mahiru-kun was taken to the food court. It's not usually open at this hour, but he was very distraught, and some of the nurses thought that some food might calm him down."

Toru nods, and compartmentalises his thoughts. First on the agenda is finding Mahiru, obviously - and then, after that, depending on what his nephew's emotional state looks like, he's going to have to hunt down someone with more knowledge of what, exactly is happening with his sister beyond a faceless voice on the other end of a phone line or a receptionist with a file open on the computer before her.

"Where is the food court?" He asks, and gives a distracted nod as thanks once she's answered, already moving before the words have barely even left her lips.

The halls that he walks through are just as quiet of human life - or just life in general - as the rest of the hospital, but he can hear the faint buzzing of the overhead lights and the creak of the wheels of the tray-tables that nurses wheel past him when they walk by, and it adds to the ambience an artificial sense of normality. There is nothing, in Toru's opinion, as antithesis to a normal life as deadstill silence.

He's relieved when he finally makes his way into the food court, and for more reasons than just one - the halls of the hospital, wide and empty as they were, still felt small and cramped, and while the food court was just as dead as the rest of the building, it was at least open. Secondly, the moment he walked through the doors, his nephew was running at him, which just automatically made everything better. He'd been assured that Mahiru was fine, just shaken with a few scrapes and bruises - but hearing that over the phone was different to seeing the kid in person, and holding him in his arms.

"Hey, Mahiru," he says, making his voice deliberately soft. The kid is shaking as he tries to bury himself against Toru, and the nurse who had been watching over him is politely waiting at the table Mahiru had been sitting at before he entered. Toru appreciates the gesture.

Mahiru murmurs something that sounds almost like _uncle_ \- it's muffled from how he's pressing his face against his chest, but the word still comes through clear enough. Toru hasn't seen the kid in years, so he isn't sure how Mahiru managed to recognise him beyond that warm flush of connection that just says _family_ the moment more than one Shirota is in the same room - he figures that Shizuka must have kept photos of him around or something, which is heartwarming, because he's fairly certain that the moment she'd been disowned she'd disowned the entire family _right back_. He's not sure Mahiru so much as knows his own grandfather's name.

"Yeah, kiddo," he says. "It's me." He pulls back from the hug a little, but Mahiru's fingers dig into his sides as he fists the cloth of Toru's jacket tight. "How you holding up?"

Mahiru blinks, and Toru's not sure he's even fully registered the question. "They won't tell me about mum," he says, voice a low whine and eyes glossed with a shine that threatens tears.

"Well, if you're not hungry anymore, do you feel up to seeing what we can go find out?"

Mahiru nods, a sniff just shy of a sob breaking out of his throat as he snuggles back up against Toru once more. He stands, holding his nephew to him, and nods to the nurse that had been watching over him – a silent thank you, and a clear dismissal. He’s got this from here.

Wandering back through those same empty halls with his nephew clutched to him is somehow both harder and easier than the trek there alone had been. The warmth and weight in his arms is a presence of life that the halls themselves just don’t have, the atmosphere of the hospital stifling what _should_ be there – but it doesn’t change the fact that Mahiru is trembling in his arms, faint sniffles and sobs wracking through his body.

Absentmindedly, Toru lifts up a hand to stroke it through Mahiru’s hair, the same sweeping motions Shizuka had once used to soothe him to sleep when they were younger. He leans into the touch, and nuzzles against Toru’s shoulder. A faint smile plays on his lips, and he hopes that Mahiru is drifting off to sleep – it’s late, and whatever it is the doctor he hunts down is going to tell him, he isn’t sure his nephew needs to hear it; not right now, not after the night he’s had.

The receptionist smiles at him once more when he pauses by her desk, and quickly pages down a doctor when he asks her to. The woman that comes striding down the hall ten long, endless minutes later looks harried, and possibly slightly annoyed, but not like she comes bearing bad news.

Well, that, or she just has very little empathy and a terrible bedside manner, but Toru chooses to think positively and give others the benefit of the doubt, so he smiles at the doctor as she comes to a stop before him.

“So. You’re Toru Shirota, yes?” She asks, and continues on immediately once he’s nodded, “I’m one of the doctors that attended to your sister when she was first brought in. Once she went into surgery, she was off my hands, but I can assure you that as of right now, she’s doing well.”

Toru breathes an internal sigh of relief, but doesn’t completely allow himself to relax, not yet. “Can I get some specifics?” He asks.

A short, sharp nod, and she continues on. “It could have been a lot worse,” she says bluntly. “Shirota-san and her son were walking down the sidewalk when a car came off the road – the driver had fallen asleep behind the wheel. If it had hit her head on, there would have been no chance. She would have been dead within seconds. Thankfully, it only just clipped her – we believe her shoving her son out of the way may have moved her just enough to save her life.” She raises a brow at him. “She’s not ‘okay’ by any means, however – several of her ribs were broken, along with both of her legs. We’re also concerned about internal damage, though it doesn’t seem to be as severe as it could have been. Her upper half escaped mostly unscathed; just a light fracture on her left arm. No head injuries, however – it seems your sister has a guardian angel watching over her.” A brief smile, flitting across that stoic face. “She’ll live.”

For a just a second, Toru closes his eyes, pressing them shut out of sheer relief. “Thank you,” he says quietly. “Do you have any idea how long she’ll be in surgery?”

“She won’t be out until at least morning,” she says. “And even after that, she’ll be kept under and in intensive care until we’re sure her condition won’t take a turn for the worse.” She flicks a glance at Mahiru, now completely out of it and breathing deep and slow against Toru’s neck. “I suggest you take your nephew home, and put him to sleep in a real bed. There’s really nothing you can do here – and the moment there’s any change with your sister, you’ll be contacted straight away.”

Toru nods slowly, acknowledging the logic in what she’s saying to him. “Thank you,” he says, while calculating how much money he carries on him – running through the city was all well and fine for him when he was caught in a panic, but he wasn’t dragging Mahiru through the streets so late after midnight, especially given what had happened only a few hours earlier.

She dips into a short bow. “You don’t have to thank me,” she says. “I’m just doing my job. But – you’re welcome.”

-x-

When the morning comes, Toru hasn’t slept at all, and his first instinct the moment Mahiru wakes up, blinking sleep from his eyes and looking utterly disoriented, is to go back to the hospital.

But the doctor had been clear the night before. He wouldn’t be able to see Shizuka. There was literally no point in dragging his nephew out of his apartment just to go loiter around a hospital for a few hours waiting for scraps of news.

After breakfast, however, Mahiru points out another issue to him – his lack of spare clothes, or toys, or anything, really – and well, Toru’s apartment isn’t exactly equipped for an eight year old child to be running around in. So, he pulls up a mental checklist, and adds _get supplies for Mahiru_ to it. He has no idea how long his nephew is going to be staying with him, but if the damage Shizuka’s suffered really is as severe as the doctor made it sound the night before, then there’s no way she’s going to be fit to take care of her son on her own for a while. There’s no way Toru’s going anywhere while his family is in a crisis, so he doesn’t much mind settling the kid in with a few items that would make his stay seem a bit more permanent.

“So we’re going home?” Mahiru asks, _home_ clearly referring to the small housing unit he lives in with his mother.

“Just to pick up some of your things,” Toru says. “Your mother’s, too – so that when we see her we can make her hospital room a bit more welcoming.” He nudges his nephew in the side with an elbow. “I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”

Mahiru lets out a sigh into his cereal – a sound so worldly and exhausted that Toru has to stare for a second. No eight year old kid should sound like that. He wracks his brain for a pun to lighten the mood – Mahiru had always found them funny when he was younger even if Shizuka had rolled her eyes at his genius ( _he’s just laughing at your face, you know,_ she’d say. _If he could understand what you were saying he’d be just as unimpressed as I am_ ) – but for once in his life, he’s coming up completely blank. There isn’t a single joke in his head.

Huh, he thinks. If that doesn’t just sum up the situation, he doesn’t know _what_ does.

“Finish your cereal, kiddo,” he says, and ruffles Mahiru’s hair as he stands from the table. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

And in the end, it isn’t just a ‘long day.’

It’s a long _week_.

Toru gets daily checkups from the hospital, but each call just confirms the status quo: Shizuka isn’t awake yet, Shizuka isn’t available for visitation yet, just give it a few more days and then you can see Shizuka.

Toru’s trying his hardest to remain understanding, but he’s honestly reaching the limits of his patience – and really, even his own mounting annoyance is nothing compared to Mahiru’s, who has honestly been nothing short of a saint during his unplanned stay with his uncle. He’s not sure what Shizuka’s been teaching the kid to keep him so calm, but he’s thankful for it, even as the last of that calm seems to burn out over the week each time he’s denied a visit to his mother.

There had been real, genuine resentment in his eyes the night before when Toru had said that they’d have to wait and see another day at least before they could go see Shizuka. He hopes his nephew isn’t starting to blame him for this – or at least, that the hospital will loosen its stance on visitations before Mahiru comes to hate him.

The day finally comes like a hallelujah towards the beginning of the second week – a phone call in the morning that Mahiru ignores, used to this routine by now and buried in his cereal as Toru answers the call with a tired _hello?_

“Well,” says the voice on the other end, weak and croaky but piercing him like a bolt of lightning. “Don’t you sound enthusiatic.”

“Shizuka,” he breathes, and across the apartment Mahiru stills. “You’re awake?”

“Have been for a few hours now,” she says. “They’ve been running a bunch of tests on me – I only just got back in my bed and convinced them to let me make a call five minutes ago.” Her voice goes grim. “Toru,” she says. “Little brother, I need you to get here now. Bring Mahiru – don’t leave him alone, not even for a second.”

There’s an urgency in her voice that has his heart beating faster, blood pumping through his veins flooded with adrenalin, but he keeps his expression smooth and calm as Mahiru wanders over, curiosity on his face. “Okay,” he says, and his voice is even. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Thank you,” she says, and the line goes dead.

Once he’s placed the phone back down in its cradle, he turns to Mahiru. “That was your mother,” he says, and the kid’s eyes light up. “She’s awake, so we’re going to see her.”

Mahiru’s smile could light up the pure vacuum of space if the kid really tried hard, but it does nothing about the tension Toru feels infecting his body – the anxiety, the fear.

He calls a taxi – with the urgency Shizuka had instilled in him he’s not risking the added time of a walk or train, added cost be damned – and the ride over is silent; Mahiru because he’s too excited to speak, and Toru because he’s far, far too worried.

The room the receptionist – a different one – directs them to is nice, if generic. Shizuka smiles at her son as he clambers onto her bed carefully, mindful of the tubes and bandages covering her, and Toru gives them a few minutes to greet each other as he takes in the sister he hasn’t seen in years – and just how fragile, how weak and pale and bruised she looks.

She looks up from where she’s stroking Mahiru’s hair, and their eyes lock. There’s a message in that gaze that Toru can read perfectly, and casually, he strides across the room to slide the door shut. The faint _click_ that echoes out isn’t a lock, but something far more secure, and Shizuka smiles – genuinely smiles – as security ripples across the room.

Mahiru blinks, mumbling something Toru can’t quite catch as he burrows into the blankets next to his mother, and he wonders if the kid could see – or at least feel – what had just happened. He’s still pretty young, after all, and they had no idea how badly whoever his father was had managed to dilute the bloodline. Shizuka had always refuse to share the name, just like she’d refused to give Mahiru to a branch clan for adoption so she could marry her intended, which was why she’d been disowned in the first place.

“Shizuka,” he says seriously. “It’s safe now, so tell me – what’s wrong?”

His sister bites her lip. It’s weird to see – she’s older than him, and has always been more fiery, even if she’d always come across as the level headed one of the two of them. He’s never seen her look this small.

“I think our family is trying to kill me,” she says.

Toru blinks. “What?”

She glares at him, but her lips are trembling and he can see the promise of tears shining in her eyes. “The car,” she says. “The driver – it wasn’t an accident, and he didn’t fall asleep, not really. He’d been hypnotized, I could _feel_ it.”

Toru narrows his eyes. “And you’re sure?”

She nods, just once, but there’s no uncertainty or joking in her expression when she looks straight at him. “I’ve felt someone watching us for weeks,” she says. “The moment I heard you were back in the country, I headed for you. Since you’re still on relatively good terms with the clan, I thought maybe you’d be able to put a few feelers out, or something. Get _some_ answer on who it was.” She bites her lip. “But whoever was watching must have figured out where I was going, and made a desperate move to cut me off before I could reach an ally. I mean, hypnotizing someone to run me down? Not quite amateur, but definitely sloppy.”

“Why do you think it’s the family, though?” He asks, keeping his voice gentle. “They’ve ignored you for years, Shizuka.”

“ _I know_ ,” she snaps, and her grip on Mahiru tightens reflexively before he whimpers, and she relaxes her hold, letting out a breath through her teeth. “But the driver was only trying to kill _me_.” Her eyes meet his, stressing the desperate fear she’s clearly feeling. “They wanted Mahiru alive, and there’s only one group who would ever want that.”

“The Shirota Clan,” Toru mutters, eyes closed. He can’t see it, but he feels Shizuka nod.

“He’s got power,” she confesses. “I know the family was worried about that – it’s part of why they wanted to adopt him out to one of the branch lines; a child of the head house couldn’t be powerless. But he isn’t, and he’ll be strong, I can tell.” She sighs. “If they’ve been keeping tabs on us, the family would have sensed it too. They’re trying to take him into the clan and away from me before I can poison him.”

Toru sighs deeply, breath hissing through his teeth. Though he hates to admit it – everything Shizuka has said makes sense. Perfect sense, in fact. “You’re probably right,” he admits. “ _Dammit_.”

“I’m vulnerable here,” she says, and it’s clearly difficult for her to admit. “Toru – I’m bed bound. If whoever it was is going to make another attempt for my life, it’s going to be while I’m here.” Her gaze holds his frozen like snake before a charmer. “You have to watch Mahiru for me,” she says. “Protect him – keep him _away_ from our family.”

“Of course,” Toru nods. “But, Shizuka – I don’t think anyone’s going to kill you now. You survived that crash because you realised, and defended yourself in time, right? And you’ve made contact with me now. Whoever it was that decided to make the hit – they’re going to be more cautious now.”

Shizuka blinks. “So?” She says. “What, exactly, do we do, then?”

“We play the long game,” Toru says, and nods firmly. “The moment you’re healed and out of the hospital, we go off the grid. Disappear, until Mahiru is old enough that it’s not worth killing you to get to him."

The fear doesn't fade from Shizuka's eyes as she narrows a glare at him. "By then, he'll be old enough that they'll think him worth killing," she argues, and as callous as it is, all Toru can do is shrug.

"Do you have any better ideas?" He asks, and knows he's struck a win when Shizuka flinches, and looks away. "Look," he goes on, deliberately gentling his voice. "I know running isn't an idea you're fond of. But-"

"But it's our best chance," she sighs, and closes her eyes. "Mahiru's best chance." A nod. "Okay, Toru - I'll trust you, little brother. I'll trust that you're right, here, because my head is too messed up to think straight right now." Her knuckles are bleached white from how tight she's gripping her sheets, and as if picking up on his mother's discontent, Mahiru - who had dozed off, curled up against Shizuka's side - grumbles, turning his face restlessly as if seeking warmth, or reassurance.

Shizuka lays her hand against his cheek, her touch clearly soft, gentle, and Mahiru stills, the creases between his brows smoothing out.

A mothers touch, Toru muses, and looks towards his sister. Only the side of her face is visible to him, and what little he can see of her expression is unreadable - though the warmth in her eyes is painfully clear to see, near palpable in the still quiet of the room.

"We'll keep him safe, sis," he swears, a whispered oath sealed as strong as blood. "We'll teach him well."

Shizuka's smile is bittersweet as she looks up at him, her eyes spilling over with tears. "And he'll grow up happy," she says. "Happy, and loved."

Toru stares at his nephew, so small and quiet and unassuming when he's asleep. It's hard to believe that such a fuss could come to existence over who gets to raise him - but it's the truth, he knows it is.

"Of course he will," he agrees, and that is that. "The simple, happy life he deserves."

**Author's Note:**

> (I kept typing Touma instead of Toru while I was writing this kill me)
> 
> *coughs*
> 
> You know, one thing _really_ stuck out to me when I first started reading Servamp.
> 
> There is something _very wrong_ with Mahiru's family.
> 
> And there are so many hints to the weirdness surrounding the Shirota family that there has to be something to it.
> 
> (The bunnies went a bit wild on this idea)
> 
> So, an AU where Mahiru's mother lives to raise him hands on, entrenched in that weirdness all so he can better defend himself...
> 
> Look out, world.


End file.
